Affiliate links | Ever since I started blogging, perhaps a year into my blogging career (although it was far from a career back then!) I’ve always managed to gain a decent amount of comments on my blog posts. Of course “a decent amount” is subjective but in this instance, I’m talking 40/50+ comments. Some topics had more, some less but in general, the vast majority of my content has performed well in terms of comments. It’s something I’m quite proud of and feel like I could offer some advice on, to anyone who wants to know how to get comments on your blog posts.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Having an engaged blog following will boost your blog comments
First and foremost, let’s start with your audience and followers. Having an engaged and loyal following is a great way how to get more comments on your blog posts. But of course, you need to establish and build that following first. A solid blog following won’t appear over night and may take time (and definitely work) to build up.
But ultimately, if you have an already established loyal and engaged blog following, you’re more likely to get blog comments from those followers who are genuinely interested in you, your blog and what you have to offer.
Building a large and engaged blog following is something that I can safely say I have done. My follower numbers are probably my proudest blogging achievement to date. A few years ago, when I REALLY started to knuckle down with my blog, I gained 5,000 new followers in just 18 months. Which brings my total now up to 11,000. Which continues to grow every day.
There’s a follower base out there for everyone. Regardless of niche and topic.
Reply to your own blog comments
I always make an effort to reply to all my blog comments. Of course I sometimes miss a few or have had times where I haven’t been able to reply (due to a bad mental health day or something similar) but 95% of the time, I will be replying to all the comments on my blog posts. It helps readers to know that their comment isn’t disappearing into the void and that there is a human being on the other side of the screen interested in what they have to say.
Leave a question at the end of the post
This is something else I’ve always done and find it really useful in how to get more comments on your blog posts. I find blog posts that end abruptly are often the hardest to comment on because you’ve just digested all that information and now what? Try leave a question for your readers at the end of EVERY post. Yes, every single one! Perhaps hone in on a specific point you made within the post or ask for their recommendations.
Consider whether you’ve given readers something to comment on
This point will very much depend on the type of content you’re writing. Because naturally, some topics warrant more comments than others. Some purely informational pieces of content don’t really NEED comments and comments rarely add value. But a lot of content you create will be “commentable” so to speak, so you need to give your readers something to comment on.
Related post: How To Write a Banging Blog Post People Will Actually Read
Would you comment on your own post?
Flip the script and look at your blog content from the other perspective. If you were reading your OWN blog post, would YOU want to comment on it? Would YOU skim read it and not bother leaving a comment because there’s nothing to comment on? (See above). Just by stepping back and looking at your content from another perspective might give you the answers you need on how to get blog comments on your posts!
Is it easy to leave a comment on your blog?
This is a BIG one. And really, it’s the most obvious and irritating reason why you might not be getting many (or any) blog comments. Take a look at your comment system. Is it easy enough for readers to comment? Do they have to jump through hoops to leave a comment on your blog? If they do, reconsider. It might sound lazy but if it’s NOT easy to comment, chances are, people won’t.
You get out what you put in
Actually, you don’t. Consider the 80/20 rule in blogging. You put in 80%, you get back 20%. It doesn’t seem fair but that’s usually the case. Being involved in a supportive community is an amazing side of having a blog. And community means engagement. So make sure you’re taking the time to comment on other people’s content and your favourite bloggers regularly and you’ll start to get more back.
Get involved with comment swaps and pods
Comment swaps and comment pods are a great way to get more comments on your own content, discover amazing new bloggers and also have all your faves in one place so it’s easy to dish those comments out. Some of my favourite comment swaps on Twitter are: @TeacupClub_ (Mon & Thur @ 5:00pm), @BloggersHut (every day @ 5:00pm) and @theclique_rt (every morning around 8:00am).
Boost your SEO & work on your page views
And finally, I believe that your blog is a whole package. You have more followers, you’ll get more comments. You have more views, you have the potential for more readers and followers and therefore, more comments. It’s worth investing in ALL areas of your blog – like SEO – in order to grow it as a WHOLE, not just one isolated element.
I hope you find these tips helpful and they help you learn how to get blog comments on a more regular basis on your content! If you have anything else to add, I’d love to hear it. If you’re a blogger who struggles with blog comments, I’d love to hear from you too!